The Helix from Dublin opened in 2002 at a cost of €36.5 million, which when compared with the cost of Beijing’s performance center makes it look like it might have been picked up at the dollar store.
The Helix venue is made up of three different auditoriums: The Space, The Mahony Hall, and The Theatre, and there’s also an exhibition area and conference room called The Gallery. The seating layouts in each of the three venues are changeable, depending what you want to use it for.
The Helix it’s used for everything from opera to rock concerts to ice shows. Sinead O’Connor has played here, along with Van Morrison and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, although none of them, so far as we know, at the same time. Roddy Doyle’s “The Woman Who Walked Into Doors” was also performed at the Helix, and the Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra and The St. Petersburg Ballet have also performed at the venue.